Backyard Garden Pond

[Jay]

Hello! After 15 years of a barrel fish pond I decided to build one in the ground in April 2014. I didn't intend for it to be as large as it turned out; over 3,500 gallons. The water is dark green, but not rope algae. I no longer see fish swimming around the surface, so hopefully they are still alive. When I feed them, I don't see them eat, but the food is gone in a few hours later. Any advice or thoughts? Thanks.

 

[addy1]

to our group. Where are you located? You might be feeding them too much putting excess nutrients into the pond.

 

[Dave 54]

Wecome to the forum from across the Pond in Plymouth UK
Jay its nice to have nice to have you join us the first thing we'll need to know is what are your water perameters i;e Ammonia Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph . Kh and also do you have a drop pond test kit or a strip test kit ?
If its a strip test kit they are unrealiable change it for an API Pond Kit , next just what do you have in the way of filtration and the GPh of your pump , what do you have in the way of a UV-C and at what rating is the wattage i;e our own is 3 6watts which makes it capable of keeping our 1,000 imperial gallon pond crystal clear?
When you say you feed them but dont see them eating their food do you just leave it there or remove it after 5 minutes because this mau have a bearing on your green water issues as does the size of your filter pump and UV-C you see they have to be man enough for the job in hand , that is circulating the water via your pump , to your filter (which should be a multi bay filter for the size pond you have through your UV-C which destroys the alae;s cell structure then back out around the pond and so on etc if you get wht we are saying .
This is a multi bay filter system more capable of handling 3.500 gallons if you dont already havbe one :-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/subcat595.html

But until we get the answers to everything we need to know none of us can give you a definative answer as to why your pond is staying green .
Just off the top of my head here from an artcle I read about green ponds turning clear do you have pond airpump:-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/subcat38.html

This is similar to our own , but back to my question , is your pond still water with no airstones in it ?
The reason I ask is a recently read an article about green ponds with still water , that were found after a number of air lines and airstones had been put into the pond and the air circulated to the airstones and into the water column , It was found that over time the algae clumped together and dropped to the bottom of the pond where it was then taken up by the filers and the ponds remain cytstal clear

Dave

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome Jay !

 

[haver79]

Welcome to the forum Jay.

 

[Jay]

Thanks to all of you that responded. I am located in Metro Atlanta (Georgia). I do have a submersible bio-filter and there is aeration, however, I had ordered my pump before I completed my pond. The pump's capacity is 2000 GHP. I have my aeration system with three fountains splashing into the water. I do not have UV-C. I haven't tested my pond water lately, but I will do so later today. When I feed my fish I leave it and go back later to see if it is gone. If there is anything remaining, I remove it. Thanks for your suggestions. Keep them coming. I will keep you posted.

 

[j.w]

Jay

 

[dieselplower]

Hi Jay, and welcome. I guess I would like to establish a few things before giving any advice... First, you didnt really ask any specific questions... I assume you are looking to clear the water? I would be interested to know how many fish you have in there and of what size? Also, are you confident about the size of the pond or taking a guess? You mentioned you have a submersible biofilter. I am just going to assume it is small and not up to the task of filtering a 3500 gallon pond. Can you tell us any more about the filter, or post pictures of it and the pond? At the moment I am just guessing that the lack of filtration is what is keeping your pond green.

 

[RobAmy]

Welcome

 

[Jay]

Wecome to the forum from across the Pond in Plymouth UK
Jay its nice to have nice to have you join us the first thing we'll need to know is what are your water perameters i;e Ammonia Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph . Kh and also do you have a drop pond test kit or a strip test kit ?
If its a strip test kit they are unrealiable change it for an API Pond Kit , next just what do you have in the way of filtration and the GPh of your pump , what do you have in the way of a UV-C and at what rating is the wattage i;e our own is 3 6watts which makes it capable of keeping our 1,000 imperial gallon pond crystal clear?
When you say you feed them but dont see them eating their food do you just leave it there or remove it after 5 minutes because this mau have a bearing on your green water issues as does the size of your filter pump and UV-C you see they have to be man enough for the job in hand , that is circulating the water via your pump , to your filter (which should be a multi bay filter for the size pond you have through your UV-C which destroys the alae;s cell structure then back out around the pond and so on etc if you get wht we are saying .
This is a multi bay filter system more capable of handling 3.500 gallons if you dont already havbe one :-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/subcat595.html

But until we get the answers to everything we need to know none of us can give you a definative answer as to why your pond is staying green .
Just off the top of my head here from an artcle I read about green ponds turning clear do you have pond airpump:-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/subcat38.html

This is similar to our own , but back to my question , is your pond still water with no airstones in it ?
The reason I ask is a recently read an article about green ponds with still water , that were found after a number of air lines and airstones had been put into the pond and the air circulated to the airstones and into the water column , It was found that over time the algae clumped together and dropped to the bottom of the pond where it was then taken up by the filers and the ponds remain cytstal clear

Dave - I tested the pond water this morning and here goes: pH 7.0, Ammonia 0.50 ppm, Nitrate 0ppm, and Nitrite 0ppm. Hopefully, this information can help.

 

[Jay]

Hi Jay, and welcome. I guess I would like to establish a few things before giving any advice... First, you didnt really ask any specific questions... I assume you are looking to clear the water? I would be interested to know how many fish you have in there and of what size? Also, are you confident about the size of the pond or taking a guess? You mentioned you have a submersible biofilter. I am just going to assume it is small and not up to the task of filtering a 3500 gallon pond. Can you tell us any more about the filter, or post pictures of it and the pond? At the moment I am just guessing that the lack of filtration is what is keeping your pond green.

Hi! I would like the water a little clearer than what it is now. I have one Koi that is about 6-7inches, 5 Koi and 8 goldfish about 3inches. The submersible pump capacity is 2000 GPH. I purchased the pump before I finish the pond, so the pond is bigger than I had initially planned. I will consider getting a larger pump to see if that helps. Thanks.